GOD AND GRAVITY

Stephen Hawking is a world-renowned cosmologist and theoretical physicist. He is the recipient of innumerable awards and honours for his seminal contribution in the field of science and the latest he received was the United States’ highest civilian honour – The Medal of Freedom – last year. He vehemently denies the existence of God and fervently feels that it is unnecessary to explain the origin of the Universe. He believes that since there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing. In sum, God did not create the Universe. For Hawking, law of gravity is the omnipotent and omniscient force if I have to put it in the language of the faithful.

Now, this goes against the very belief system of all religions of the world. The very foundation of any religion – Abrahamic, Sanatanic or its offshoots – is that God created this world and all are answerable to him on the D-day. Well, Sanatanis may say what they call by three letters – G O D – Hawking gives a different name – GRAVITY. It can be 1001st name of God whom they believe to be the origin, sustenance and destruction of the Universe. But the admirable side of Hawking is that he never questions the belief of the faithful nor decries them as unscientific or irrational.

Take for instance the official motto of the US. “In God We Trust”. The US law allowed the motto to be used on coins and currencies. The US Supreme Court upheld the motto because it has “lost through repetition any significant religious context” as Ram is not merely a religious symbol, but national identity. Otherwise, Gandhiji would not have dreamt of Ram Rajya.

Likewise, “God Save the Queen (King) is the sole national anthem of the United Kingdom and some of its territories. Hawking does not advocate that these motto and anthem should be removed since he has proved that God does not exist. “Faith” in God has become an accepted reality even in modern democracies governed by rule of law. In fact, Sri Krishna laid the foundation for such a belief system when he said in the Gita “A man is made up of his faith, he verily is what his faith is” (Ch 17 – 3)

Let’s contrast this with the secular fundamentalists in our country who are disguised as “eminent historians”, archaeologists, liberals, atheists and legal luminaries. Because they are the authors or abettors of distorted version of Indian history and as they have no love or respect for India’s civilizational values and culture, they would like every Hindu to believe that Lord Ram is just a mythical figure or may be an artefact. Everything has to be explained in terms of what they believe to be the scientific basis. There is no place for the word “faith” in their parlance.
Well, this is again selective and applies to only Hindu faith. In Shah Bano case, the very same secular fanatics wanted to uphold faith as enshrined in Sharait as against the law of the land. Law was changed to uphold faith. Now, after September 30th, when faith was upheld by law, (to borrow LK Advani’s phrase) there is cacophony.

According to these “seculars”, judiciary is at fault for recognising the faith of the people, and Archeological Survey of India for coming out with some “stupid findings” because the latter exposes the “seculars” decades long false campaign that was deliberately unleashed on the people. One such secular writer has listed out instances where ASI had favoured Hindutva forces as against the interests of the Muslim community. He has included Tourism sector also as an accomplice of Hindutva because it has been promoting places of religious significance. His attempt is only to reinforce the vilification campaign that is going on today against the ASI just because its report has shaken the very basis of the arguments of Sunny wakf board and the “secular pretenders”.

If you recall, Syed Shahabuddin, the key architect of the Babri Masjid Action Committee, said in the nineties that if ever it was proved that there was a temple beneath the mosque, he himself would take a hammer and pull down the mosque. Where will he and men of his ilk hide their faces today after the ASI conclusively nailed their oft-repeated lie. So, let’s call the dog mad before we kill it. That seems to be the spirit behind the campaign against the ASI.

“Eminent historians” and their cohorts would like the people of this country to believe that India was never subjugated by Muslim invaders, they did not destroy temples in order to humiliate the vanquished, they did not impose tax on non-believers and that rulers like Aurangazeb, Alauddin Khilji, Thuglak were highly benevolent towards their subjects. For example, the same author feels Chittor Rani Padmini’s self-immolation is a myth and it was invented to highlight Khilji’s atrocities. What did the ASI do? It just put a signpost at the location where Rani Padmini committed self-immolation.

Let’s be clear about one thing. It is the present government that wanted the ASI to take up the job of excavation at Ayodhya site when the (in)famous Liberhan Commission wanted a national commission of experts. Turning down this suggestion, the UPA government said that it was not necessary to appoint another national commission and that the ASI could do the job. Of course, the Allahabad High Court ordered such an excavation monitored by two judges and employing workers from both the communities.

Let’s accept for a moment that the ASI was wrong to conclude that there was a temple-like structure beneath the demolished mosque. What about the tell-tale evidence in Mathura and Kashi. Even a hard –boiled secular has to accept that the mosques were raised in the temple premises. You don’t need any expert nor the services of ASI. Will the “seculars” lobby with the Muslims and convince them to give up those two places?

You don’t need to be an “eminent historian” to understand the mindset of Moghal invaders. What their descendents, who operate under the tag “Taliban” did to the two colossal statues of Buddhas carved into the sandstone cliffs in Bhamiyan. They were destroyed unmindful of the world outcry and outrage. Mullah Omar said he wanted to get rid the land of all un-Islamic graven images. What did Osama bin Laden do? As a manifestation of the “clash of civilizations” he wanted to teach the US a lesson and humiliated the country by razing to the ground the imposing World Trade Centre. And now there is a proposal to have an Islamic Centre which in due course will be known to the posterity as “victory monument”.

What Taliban or al Quaeda did or is doing was done by the Moghal rulers some centuries ago. History is this, my dear eminent historians! Despots destroyed what their ideologies could not accept – Stalin’s destruction of churches, Mao’s cultural revolution that removed Confucius from the collective conscience of the Chinese, Hitler’s destruction of synagogues, Pol Pot’s destruction of schools and cities are all examples. Babar, Aurangazeb, Ghazni and invaders of their reputation should share this hall of shame, no matter to what extent you twist history to suit your agenda. Why make ASI a scapegoat?